ESL One Cologne 2015 Rundown

I had the brilliant opportunity to attend the ESL One Cologne 2015 event last week, and watched some stunningly impressive games. Here, I will give you the short version of it and my opinions.

Day 1: Quarter Finals
Matches: EnvyUs vs Natus Vincere
Team Solomid vs Team Kinguin
Virtus Pro vs Ninjas in Pajamas
Fnatic vs Luminosity Gaming

Match 1: NV vs NTS
DE_Inferno 16-13 adv NV
DE_Mirage 16:10 adv NV
This series ended in a 2-0, as the rest of the quarterfinals that day happened. Na'Vi are considered by many to be a top team and some would go as far as to say a top 3 team. Envy, on the other hand are only picking their pace back up after the roster swap of SmithZZ and Shox for apEX and KennyS. So, when Envy took the first map (Inferno), many were suprised, even though it was quite a close game at 16:13. However, Envy made a second upset on Mirage, where they won convincingly 16:10. Personally, the highlight of this series is KennyS' knife kill onto Guardian in a 1 on 1 situation.

Match 2: TSM vs KGN
DE_Dust2 16-6 adv TSM
DE_Overpass 16-8 adv TSM
As mentioned above, this match was also a 2-0, in favour of TSM. Despite Kinguin being TSM's sister team, they did not hold back with both maps, Dust 2 and Overpass, ending 16-6 and 16-8 respectively. While it wasn't a complete stomp and Kinguin definitely having its moments of brilliance, the 'HLTV dream team' didn't stand a chance against the solidarity of TSM and the structured leadership of Karrigan. As for this series, seeing the underdog team go on a streak in overpass was quite exciting.

Match 3: VP vs NIP
DE_Train 16-14 adv VP
DE_Inferno 16-5 adv VP
This time, the tournament wasn't in Katowice, but despite Virtus Pro not having the home field advantage, it certainly felt like it. The Polish crowd showed up in full force during both of their games this tournament. Train was a back and forth spectacle, with VP winning overall, but the MVP being awarded to Allu, who nearly carried NIP to overtime, but just fell short, ending the game 16:14. Inferno, on the other hand, felt as if NIP couldn't get a hold on the game and with VP still carrying momentum from the last win, the game was a 16-5 domination from the side of Virtus Pro. If there was a map to watch from day 1, VP vs NIP on Train was certainly that.

Match 4: FNC vs LMS
DE_Train 16-5 adv FNC
DE_Mirage 16-14 adv FNC
Expectedly, Fnatic were favourites to win this match, with Luminosity, previously Keyd Stars, not having a solid performance since the last major at Katowice. Train went as predicted with Fnatic winning 16-5 in dominant fashion, and up to that point, Fnatic had lost a total of 9 rounds in the entire tournament. So it was a big surprise when Luminosity almost took them to overtime on Mirage, a map Fnatic is known to be strong on, just barely losing 16-14.

Day 2: Semi Finals and Grand Final
Matches: EnvyUs vs TSM
Virtus Pro vs Fnatic
EnvyUs vs Fnatic

Match 1: NV vs TSM
DE_Cache 16-12 adv NV
DE_Dust2 16-8 adv TSM
DE_Inferno 16-9 adv NV
This was the very first match to go to all 3 maps, ending in 2-1 in EnvyUs' favour. Cache was fairly close, with Envy winning 16-12. There were several clutch plays making rewatching this map worthwhile. Dust 2 is normally considered an Envy map but TSM managed to beat them 16-8. Inferno was the map to close out the series, with Envy finishing in a style reminiscent of IEM Gamescom. The final score was 16-9.

Match 2: VP vs FNC
DE_Mirage 16-6 adv VP
DE_Inferno 16-14 adv FNC
DE_Cbble 16-7 adv FNC
If the Polish crowd was strong on the first match, then this time, they were crazy. The whole stadium was filled with the signature Virtus Pro chant, and that is what drove VP to victory on the first map of a very close series. Admittedly, Mirage is VP's strongest map, but to see a 16-6 stomp was incredible, and considered by many to be impossible. Inferno went super close, with a tactical pause from Fnatic working wonders and letting them just edge ahead of VP, finishing 16-14. Cobblestone was the opposite of Mirage and we got to see the series swing from VP to FNC, with FNC closing 16-7, earning them a spot alongside Envy in the grand finals. This was THE series to watch in the tournament.

Match 3: NV vs FNC
DE_Dust2 19-15 6x6kOT1 adv FNC
DE_Cbble 16-7 adv FNC
Here it was, the match to end the tournament. Envy started strong on Dust 2with several strong rounds and a knife kill from NBK, but again, Fnatic's pauses seem to accomplish the impossible, with them making a comeback other teams could only dream of, winning 19-15 in the overtime. The second map, Cobblestone, went heavily in Fnatic's favour, and it seemed like envy was just crushed after losing the previous map, even despite winning the pistol. Several clutches made it seem like they would hang in there for that little bit longer, but in the end it was not to be, with Fnatic being the first team to win 3 majors and 2 majors in a row.

As always, I'm Metis Lee, feedback and reviews are greatly appreciated. A follow on Twitter would be nice so follow me @metis_lee to get news on all the latest articles.

EU LCS Mid-season madness

With the midpoint of the summer split having just passed, we have to take a look at the current standings and see which teams have surprised us, both impressively and disappointingly. First, let's take a look at the standings.
We have:
1. FNC at 10 - 0
2. OG at 8 - 2
3. H2K at 7 - 3
4. GIA at 5 - 5
5. EL at 4 - 6
6. ROC at 4 - 6
7. UOL at 4 - 6
8. GMB at 3 - 7
9. SK at 3 - 7
10. CW at 2 - 8

 Let's start at the top of the table, where Fnatic have successfully beaten their own win streak record set in the summer of 2013, a record which three other teams have fallen short of. Those teams, being Gambit in spring 2014, Alliance in summer 2014 and SK in spring 2015, were at their very peak when they got to the edge of beating that record, and the same could be said for Fnatic right now, although it seems that they are having a very easy time beating everyone else in Europe. So what does this say about the roster following the return of Rekkles? Having had what can only be described as a slump during his time on Elements, most people had low expectations upon his return to Fnatic. I think it is safe to say he has surpassed those expectation several times over, with his return to the high ranks on the top performers leaderboards. It is also safe to assume this roster is more powerful than last year's with the victory over Origen further proving that point. Interestingly, Fnatic have almost secured themselves a guaranteed playoff position.

Taking a look at second and third, where Origen and H2K have been in a fierce battle for the second place spot, the skill difference is almost invisible. Both of these teams are incredible and despite Origen being the newcomers this split, they have shot straight to the top. H2K look to be at the same level they ended last split on, and it will be very difficult to tell who will take second place. However, Origen have beaten H2K already and that may be the deciding factor going into the second half of the split.

Sitting at fourth is Giants. Narrowly avoiding autorelegation in the spring split, nobody expected anything much from Giants. But with the addition of their new support, G0DFRED, the team seems to have turned around. While they do sit two wins below H2K and only one above the mad scramble for fifth place, they seem to be one of the better teams this split. I think there's a trend here. H2K went ham once Kasing joined, MYM nearly avoided autorelegation when Noxiak joined, Element's playstyle and mentality improved when Krepo arrived and now last split's 9th place team is fourth after G0DFRED joined. Jokes aside, Giants look much more like a team and less like five high elo players. Pepiinero no longer has to constantly 1v9 and they no longer play like a worse version of last split's Elements. While it's true that the members may not have the best mechanical skill, their decision making is solid and that has net them the 50% winrate they currently hold.

This then brings us to the fifth place spot, where Elements, Roccat and Unicorns of Love are desperately trying to claim that 5th place spot for themselves. However, there seems to be a gap in skill. Elements and Roccat look to be improving while the Unicorns seem to be on a decline. This may be because of the return of Nyph to Elements' roster and the replacement of Woolite by MrRalleZ. These swaps have breathed new life into these teams, with Elements having their first 2-0 week for a long while. It has still yet to be seen whether or not Nyph can uphold both a coaching and a starting position, and it is heavily suspected that PuSH is paid to stand there in a suit and pretend to be helping with picks and bans.

Tied for eigth we have Gambit and SK, who ironically have caused problems for each other. SK have dropped after losing FORG1VENGRE to Gambit, with Gambit being there themselves due to not being able to harness FORG1VEN's raw mechanical skill. The two teams just do not seem to be able to win games through strategy or outplays, which is unfortunate since there are some very good players on both of those teams. And finally, in 10th place we have the Copenhagen Wolves. Not an unusual sight, with last split being the only time they avoided relegation. The ban of Dentist seems to have had more of an effect on the team than anticipated, and they can only hope to avoid autorelegation moving into the second half of the split.

 As always, I am Metis Lee, feedback is appreciated and if you enjoyed this post, a follow on twitter @Metis_Lee would be nice and plus, you get updates from me, which is always good. Well, most of the time... Ok, only sometimes, but it's still a good idea.

The cultural development of Esports - where the money is

Since the beginning of video games, we have been warned off them by many, with investing a significant amount of time into gaming being frowned upon. However, this is beginning to change now. With the current young generation of people being raised with access to the digital world, people's opinions of the internet, computers and games are rapidly changing. To this, we have the rise of Esports and competitive gaming to thank.

A few years ago, if someone were to say they could earn a living from playing video games, they would be called an idiot and told to go back to work, whereas now, professional gaming is a viable, although ill-advised, career choice, no offence to our current pros. But then we have to ask, why has Esports had this effect? My opinion is that Esports has developed a cultural aspect, meaning that it is more than just 10 people in a room playing each other for a few dollars. Instead, what it has turned into is a source of entertainment in itself aside from the game, with hundreds of teams, millions of fans and billions of dollars involved. But what has really driven it to success isn't the money involved, but the people around it, people who are passionate about the game and care about making entertainment for others, starting with the fans themselves spreading spoken word, then writers and Youtubers like me and of course the players and organisations who make it all possible. It could be argued that these people could have made it just as enjoyable with a tenth of the money that they are working with right now.

Let me remind you that Esports has been to some of the biggest venues in the world, including Spodek Arena (Poland), Wembley Arena (UK), the Seoul World Cup Stadium (South Korea), the Staples Centre (USA) and in a few months, ESL One Cologne in the Lanxess Arena (Germany). Each of these places have had massive audience participation with thousands of attendees each time. So what does this lead to? Esports is now treated like a real sport in terms of participation and press, and that is what has allowed it to grow culturally, because it has been given the audience needed to make it succeed.

Now, there are cases where the growth and size of Esports are exaggerated, as demonstrated in Thooorin's recent video, but it is undeniable that there is significant bank in the venture. Valve's The International 5 has amassed a prize pool of over 12.5 million USD, with almost 10 million being contributions from the playerbase. Even the online ESL ESEA Pro League has a total pool of 500,000 USD, twice that of the last CS:GO major, ESL One Katowice. So, now we have to see what impact this has had on the everyday gamer. Nearly everyone in League of Legends knows about the LCS and everyone in CS:GO knows who Pasha, KennyS and GeT_RiGhT are, showing just how much the professional scene has spread throughout the regular playerbase. And what does this mean for the general public? Many more young people have heard about Insomnia or GamesCom and even if they don't follow the scene, the knowledge is still there.

In conclusion, the growth of Esports into everyday community and culture has been prevalent. Maybe it isn't quite as big as what people make it out to be, but it is still there, and it is down to all of the people involved to allow it to continue to grow.

Thank you for reading, and please, if you liked this article, please comment, share, tweet and follow me on Twitter @Metis_Lee.

Gambit Gaming: the Moscow 5 of old?

Statistically and officially, a team is not the same should there be less than three players of the original roster remaining. So it's understandable that people said that Gambit Gaming was no longer the same team before the promotion tournament, after Genja stepped down and P1noy replaced him. But when did the M5 squad's prime really end? After Darien was benched? Maybe after Alex Ich left? Maybe even as far as the beginning of 2014 spring? Whatever the case, problems were evident throughout the spring playoffs and the whole of 2014 summer. However, none of that matters at present with their current lineup, consisting of Lucas 'Kappachard' Simon-Meslet, Danil 'DiamondProX' Reshetnikov, Felix 'Betsy' Edling, Kristoffer 'P1noy' Pedersen and Eduard 'EdWard' Abgaryan. With only two original members left, the team looked to be a prime candidate for relegation, until now. On a seven win streak as of week 6, nobody, not even Fnatic or SK look to be able to beat them in their current form. This is all well and good, until someone asks the question: How do they compare to Moscow 5?

Let's take a look at the main focus of the team, the midlane. For as long as people can remember, Alexey 'Alex Ich' Ichetovkin has been a dominant player throughout his career, on par with the likes of Froggen and Xpeke. Ichetovkin's first replacement was Sebastian '760' Robak, also known as NiQ. Robak had huge shoes to fill, and didn't really deliver, ending on a score of 0/0/0 on Nidalee in his premier game. Gambit hardly picked up any wins until the superweek where they went four and zero. Unfortunately not making the playoffs, they did manage to secure themselves a spot in the 2015 LCS. This brings us to IEM Cologne, where each individual player stepped up, especially NiQ, averaging a 2.9 KDA and having the highest average cs and gold lead over his lane opponent and having the advantage more than 60% of the time. So what can we draw from this? NiQ is a very consistent player, gaining big advantages when ahead and having a small gap when behind. When he was still on the starting lineup, he was a very good agressive mid laner with the ability to be supportive to help execute ganks well and giving the jungler an upper hand. Robak was permanently replaced by Betsy in week 5 due to illness and the need to have a member who had been active in the roster more recently in the lead up to IEM Katowice. Edling is very similar to Robak, only with slightly higher aggression, which has benefited the team so far.

Taking a look at another one of M5's stars, Evgeny 'Darien' Mazaev, Gambit have seen to be able to find a suitable replacement for him as well. Originally benched during the 2014 summer, Darien unfortunately looks to never see professional play again, but the void the swag lord has left has been filled well by the likes of Jakub 'Kubon' Turewicz and subsequently Lucas 'Cabochard' Simon-Meslet. Kubon did not have many defining characteristics, instead just being able to integrate  into the team as a supporting role towards the end of the 2014 summer. Cabochard, however has leaned more towards damage and engage focus champions such as Kennen, creating ridiculous teamfight opportunities when there shouldn't be. The addition of Cabochard to the roster cannot be described as flawless, but it has shown results. Despite all of this, Cabochard is no Darien, who would build stupid builds and make them work, lead a team around the entire map while Genja took Drake or would feed to win as we all so fondly remember, but all good things must come to an end, as Darien has passed his prime, and Cabochard is the next best thing.

Edward and Diamond need no introduction, but Eddy's lane partner does. Kristoffer has made a big entry into the LCS, filling long time veteran Evgeny 'Genja' Andryushin's shoes, and so far has done a good job of it, even having a technique named after him, with a maximum range Graves ultimate now being known as pulling a P1noy in higher levels of the game. With Genja stepping down from his position, Gambit were forced to find a replacement ADC. P1noy, at the time known as Krislund, stepped in and stepped up, earning his spot on the team. While nowhere near as innovative or legendary as the all powerful time lord, P1noy is a solid player with great skill and deserves his spot on the team.

So, after all of that, how does Gambit Gaming compare to the old Russian death squad? Truthfully, it doesn't. Gambit aren't a world class team like M5, and they don't have the reputation either. However, they are improving and if they continue to, then maybe one day they will surpass Moscow 5 and beat TPA.

What is Good Mentality and why is it so important to the game?

Recently, on the 19th and 20th of February, I had the pleasure of attending the EU LCS week 5 in Berlin, where I had a chance to talk to a few people, including Jordan 'Leviathan' Thwaites of Gambit Gaming, Karl 'Dentist' Krey of Copenhagen Wolves and Christoph 'nRated' Sietz of SK Gaming. There, I discussed key factors of a winning team. One recurring issue was mentality, and how having a good mentality played a big part in improving and subsequently winning. However, this begs the question, 'what is good mentality?’

Let's start at the other end of the question, as defining bad mentality is for whatever reason easier. However, bad mentality still covers a wide spectrum, ranging from plan laziness to even just taking losses badly. A more recent example of a team that could be considered to have bad mentality is the previous 2014 summer champions, Elements. Now on a 5 losing streak, they are nowhere near where their fans and they themselves expected to be. When you are coming off a win streak like Elements are, it is only your game to lose, whereas for a lower tier team such as the CW, Dentist has said that the Wolves are just trying not to get relegated so they have no real pressure win or lose. Several of Elements' members including W1ckd and Rekkles and ex-Alliance ADC Tabzz have said that the team atmosphere haven't been great, with people unwilling to take blame and multiple disagreements. This was also seen when I talked to nRated. He said that after Tabzz left, the whole team feel was lost and everyone started to want to point fingers and blame each other in the case of any mistake. This was not particularly evident at first, as Tabzz was used as a scapegoat and so the problems weren't seen until recently. The disagreements became evident with the top lane swap, where Wickd was benched partially because of his stubbornness, which played into his stereotype of having a small champion pool and strange/ ineffective builds. Another reason for this swap was Kev1n was described to be a very calm and neutral person, much like Nyph, and would free up space on the team for the bigger egos such as Rekkles and Shook. Another supposed benefit of this swap is that Kev1n is described as a friendly person, and friendship is a very lacking element in the team, which sometimes leads to the blame game as the players feel that 'oh, I don't really like him, I'll just blame him for my mistakes'. Another key factor is their coach, who is quite inexperienced, and rather than talking with the players to find solutions, seems to talks at the players instead. This leads to the players feeling unheard and negates what little advantage the coach brings because the players are unwilling to listen. The team also appears to be affected by losses in an emotional way, and instead of taking a look back at the game and seeing what went wrong, their attitude is rather that of 'just go back to scrims or solo q and we can get better', which in a sense works, but is much less effective than other teams' practice.

So now let's take a look at the best team in Europe at this moment, SK. Why are they doing so well compared to Elements if they have roughly the same amount of skill? Taking a look at their star player, Forg1venGRE, he said that he expects his entire team to be on the same level as him. Now, there are two ways his team can react. They can either say, no way we're doing that and training 12 hours a day and they can be a good team, or, the team can say OK, let's try that and be an amazing team. Whichever one the players choose depends on their mentality, which in this aspect, ties into work ethic. On average, the SK players practice 12 hours a day. If the players are motivated and have the right mentality, they would be open to suggestions about training and trying things out to help them improve as a team. Another advantage the SK Gaming Team has over Elements is the fact that all of the players are all friends and get along well with each other. This is in part due to the help the team's sports psychologist has provided. The help includes teambuilding exercises which really brings the team closer together and gives them the edge in teamwork over any other team. The psychologist also helps them resolve any disputes they have and that allows the players to improve themselves instead of arguing with teammates. In my opinion, Elements could really benefit from having a sports psychologist, but that's for another time.

Now we've seen a team that is doing well and another that has major problems, let's take a look at two rising teams, Copenhagen Wolves and Gambit Gaming. Both Dentist and Leviathan have played instrumental roles in the teams' improvement since their somewhat shaky start in the first few weeks. Leviathan has played an active role in the coaching the team and finding solutions to problems. 'I take time to sit down with the team and discuss problems and potential solutions' he said. The results have been self-explanatory. After an underwhelming start, they are now on a 5 win streak and look to be getting stronger and stronger, maybe even rivalling the Moscow 5 of old. Similarly, the Copenhagen Wolves are also on a winning streak, and are tied for 3rd place as of the end of week 5. 'We try to take it one game at a time and if we lose, oh well, maybe next time and if we win, then all the better for us. We don't have huge expectations from our fans so that takes away a lot of the pressure'. Having this attitude towards the game means that while you are motivated, you don't have the pressure that causes you to have a massive tiltfest. This has been proven ad the Wolves have looked incredibly solid over the past few games, and not only that, they have had the confidence to make big plays as well.

After all of that, let's try to define good mentality, or at least the components of good mentality. We know that people should have good work ethic and an optimistic outlook on events. People should not let pressure or fame get to their heads and shouldn't get complacent. Finally, most of all, people should acknowledge problems and if help is available, use it to try and find solutions. But even after all this, good mentality doesn't have a definitive description and at the end of the day we only have guidelines. Even so, having the right mentality is as important as being able to innovate or having good mechanics or communicating well, and that is something we know for sure.